Business Beat: Take a stand for our community

As I understand it, during the most recent bust cycle of Moffat County’s long history of boom and bust, the saying in Craig was, “Will the last one out please turn off the wave pool?”

Now that yet another bust cycle is possibly on the horizon here in Moffat County, I want to focus my business column this week on encouraging you — each and every one of you — to do something to prevent it.

We have an opportunity to create a defining moment in our history and not allow someone else to.

We can sit back and do nothing about the impending ramifications of House Bill 10-1365, otherwise known as the Clean Air, Clean Jobs Act. Or, we can do something about it.

We can put our feet up and enjoy our surroundings and do nothing about our undiversified economy. Or we can do something about it.

On Thursday, the Public Utilities Commission will be hosting a hearing in Denver regarding the Clean Air, Clean Jobs Act. There are many people that already plan to attend. There are carpooling and buses being arranged for a large contingent of Craig residents traveling to Denver so that their voices can be heard.

Are you going?

This November, there is a potential for 30 percent of our community to go to the voting booth and decide whether or not we should approve a city lodging tax that could pay for much-needed marketing and infrastructure in our community, as well as stabilizing the funding of our Economic Development Partnership.

Are you going to vote?

Our community is full of passionate people who spend time arguing about things such as who should pay what for the Public Safety Center, who should be elected as county commissioner or to the city council, and many other topics, such as the direction of our local schools.

We now have to make sure that we spend that same energy to ensure that we don’t allow people in Denver, such as Josh Penry and Bill Ritter, or other people in our community to control our destiny.

We have a potential defining moment facing us. Will it be that we do nothing about it or will we get involved and take the wheel?

So my question for you is, are you going to allow somebody else to determine our defining moment or are you going to do something about it? Next year at this time, will we be asking, will the last one out please shut off the wave pool, or will be asking, will the next one in please put the key to the city back under the rug?